Alright, we had a couple nice healthy recipes up this week to get that whole New Year resolution thing going. But it’s Friday. It’s time for wine 😉
MULLED WINE, to be exact. Which is totally underrated and underutilized as a happy wintry warm-you-up cocktail. It’s like hot sangria. Hmmm, which sounds pretty gross, eh? Okay, it’s like hot sangria if that sounds like a good thing to you…… I sure know how to sell a recipe, eh?!
It seems like I only make mulled wine for special occasions. This time, I made it exclusively for this post. It was actually awesome, I was cooking and blogging in the kitchen all day one Sunday, Preston was watching TV and working. We were just kind of lounging around, sort of getting a few things done here and there. A big pot of mulled wine warming on the stove making everything smell incredible. And then we just sipped on mugs of mulled wine in the afternoon once it was ready.
Then we just had the rest with dinner. MULLED wine with a warming winter dinner.
It was just so fun and special and actually made me feel for a bit like I really enjoy winter. Which I don’t, aside from the holidays and blankets. 😉
Moral of the story: sure, mulled wine would be awesome to have at a get together with friends. Or served for some kind of special occasion. But really? You should just make it. Now.
(Hey, maybe I do know how to sell a recipe after all?! That sounded good, makes me want to go home and make a pot tonight!)
Alright, before I share the recipe, a few notes: you could totally use your favorite wine, but with all the spices and delightfulness, I tend to use two buck chuck. You can also add your favorite citrus and winter spices – anything will work! I kept mine to the classic few favorites, but have fun with it! I did go a little unusual by putting whole orange slices in it – usually it’s just the orange rind. But I love the added juice in there too, it makes it sweet and a little diluted in an awesome way. Just make sure to give the oranges a little squeeze so you don’t lose your mulled wine before you serve!
- 1 bottle red wine of choice
- 1 orange, sliced
- 10 whole cloves
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 3 T brown sugar
- Stick the cloves into the orange slices so you don’t lose them in the pot of wine. Empty everything into a big sauce pan and heat over low heat until steaming and hot. It’s best if you let it slowly warm up and keep it on the stove so the flavors can steep a little longer, at least for an hour. Gently squeeze extra orange juice and wine out of the orange slices and remove cinnamon sticks before serving.
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